Free Kenneth Foster

Kenneth Foster is fighting for his life. Texas is scheduled to execute him on Aug. 30. Even by Texas’ own Law of Parties, Foster is innocent, but it is this backward, “hang ‘em all” statute that sent Foster to death row 10 years ago.

Kenneth Foster with daughter Nydesha. Photos: www.FreeKenneth.com

Foster was sentenced to death in May 1997 for driving a car from which Mauriceo Brown got out and shot Michael LaHood Jr. Brown got out of the car, allegedly attempted to commit a robbery, though he claimed that no robbery was intended, and said that he wanted to talk to a woman who was with LaHood. Complications arose and Brown shot LaHood while Foster and two others stayed in the car nearly 80 feet away with the windows up and the radio on.

Brown admitted to the shooting, claiming self-defense. But he said that no one had any prior knowledge of the crimes he was about to commit.

Foster's grandfather, Lawrence Foster Sr.

Foster has become an outspoken critic of the death penalty, an activist inside Texas’ death row, a prolific writer and poet, and an organizer. He is one of the founding members of the Death Row Inner Communalist Vanguard Engagement— DRIVE—Movement, an organization on death row that has organized several hunger strikes to protest the horrific conditions the men are subjected to.

DRIVE is a multinational organization of activists who see unity of those on death row as their strength. They use civil disobedience as a tool to call attention to death row conditions of isolation and brutality.

Activists in Texas are planning activities in support of Foster for this summer. Supporters, family and friends are holding weekly meetings in Austin. There will be a statewide demonstration in Austin on July 21.

For almost as long as Foster has been on death row, he has been educating his supporters, anti-death-penalty activists and the public on Texas’ unjust Law of Parties. He also contributes to the struggle through his writings.

From his web site Foster says: “I am here to tell you that capital punishment is a form of genocide. Some people may say, ‘Whoa. That’s a strong word to use.’ But I use it with no hesitation. . . . What we see going on in America is systematic genocide. It is subtle in its form: booming prison systems made to seem like rehabilitation centers when they are like concentration camps; tobacco products made to seem cool to kids when it is only killing them; lack of health care provided while curable diseases are ravishing our communities; police murders which are given passes under the law; purposeful poverty; and the most blunt is capital punishment.

“They will try to justify my murder through their law of parties. Laws don’t make justice. Once upon a time in Amerika, slavery was a law. There were lynch laws. There were Jim Crow laws. None of them were right and the Law of Parties statute is not being applied right. . . . We will not be silent. We will fight until the end. I have dedicated my life for 10 years now. I will not walk head down. In my own right I have left a legacy—for my family, for my child, for fellow strugglers. ... My murder should act as a flame in the heart of fighters for justice—not a mourning device. Don’t mourn, MOBILIZE!”

To get involved in the campaign to save Kenneth Foster, call Austin activists at 512-494-0667 or Houston activists at 713-503-2633. See www.freekenneth.com, www.drivemovement.org or www.kennethfoster.de.